Man shot by stun gun dies

A man who police said was mentally disturbed died after he was shot with a Taser during a scuffle with officers, a Garden Grove police spokesman said Thursday.

Andy Tran, 32, was unresponsive when paramedics arrived at a home in the 13000 block of Barnett Way, said Police Lt. Dennis Ellsworth. He was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

The cause of death had not been determined, Ellsworth said.

The incident occurred about 11:30 a.m. Wednesday after Tran's relatives called police because he was acting erratically, Ellsworth said. Officers were warned that he could be armed and violent, Ellsworth said.

When police arrived at the residence, they spotted Tran trying to enter the home through a window. Tran met the officers on the lawn and resisted attempts to detain him. Ellsworth said an officer deployed a Taser one time, striking Tran in the thigh.

The suspect went down and was handcuffed.

"The paramedics were called, and when they arrived they said he wasn't breathing. He was rushed to the hospital, where he died," Ellsworth said.

It is the first death associated with the use of a Taser by Garden Grove police, he said.

The spokesman said police had had several encounters with Tran over the years, once arresting him for being under the influence of illegal drugs. Ellsworth said Tran had a "long history of mental illness."